Hello, friends! I’m still trying to decompress after a super busy weekend. I attended the Build Your Blog Conference in Salt Lake City where I learned so much I felt my head was going to explode. There are so many things on my To Do list that if I get to all of them, it will be a miracle. I enjoyed the conference, though, and it was so fun to meet and network with other bloggers. It blows my mind how many talented and creative people there are out there, my friends. And that was just one conference!
Anyway, on to the fried stuff. Because it inevitably comes up in every conversation, right? Any conversation worth having anyway. Okay, I’m totally kidding. I know it’s still February and I made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight. And I know fried food is not always the healthiest option. But sometimes you need a little southern, down-home cookin’. That’s the beauty of this Chipotle Fried Chicken recipe. Because you only fry it on the stove to get the pieces gorgeously golden brown. Then you transfer them to the oven to cook through. So really, it’s like you hardly fry them at all. That’s gotta save you some calories, right? 😉
And the result is amazing. Crispy, golden brown chicken that is so tender and juicy, it’ll make you want to belt out your favorite country song. The best part of these is they bring a little heat with chipotle seasoning. The other major plus? You fry the pieces in a stock pot instead of a fry pan. F’reals. That means no big oil splatter mess to clean up after. Tell me that isn’t beautiful.
- 1 whole chicken (about 1½ lbs), cut up
- 2 cups (1/2 quart) buttermilk
- 2 cups flour
- 1 Tbsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp pepper
- 2 Tbsp chipotle (or cajun) seasoning*
- Vegetable oil
- Paprika, for sprinkling
- Mix chicken pieces and buttermilk in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the flour, salt, pepper, and chipotle seasoning in a large bowl.
- Remove chicken from buttermilk mixture and coat each piece with flour mixture.
- Pour oil into a large stockpot until it is 1 inch deep. Heat to 250 degrees.
- Carefully place several pieces in oil and fry for about 3 minutes per side until golden brown.
- Remove to a metal baking rack placed on a sheet pan. Continue frying pieces until all are golden brown.
- Bake chicken 30 to 40 minutes, sprinkling with paprika in last 10 minutes. Bake until no longer pink and internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
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I’ve been trying to figure out what kind of fried chicken I want to use in a bao sandwich… this is it!!! I love that you fried and then baked. That’s genius.
Thanks, Holly! Truth be told, in the past I was too scared to make fried chicken cuz I hated the oily mess. I love this clean and yummy version! Super addicting. 🙂